India sees record Covid deaths in 24 hours; govt drops plasma therapy as treatment; more

India has been registering a significant decline in the daily Covid-19 cases but has seen a sharp rise in deaths due to the infection. India's total coronavirus cases surged past the 25-million mark on Tuesday, boosted by 263,533 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, while deaths from Covid-19 rose by a record 4,329.

India has officially removed the use of convalescent plasma, popularly known as the plasma therapy, on Covid-19 patients from its clinical management guidelines for the disease. The therapy has been a subject of intensive debate ever since the Delhi government allowed its use in some cases last year. The previous guidelines allowed “off label” use of plasma therapy on Covid-19 patients during moderate stage within seven days of the onset of symptoms. However, in many cases, doctors advised plasma therapy in critical cases of Covid-19.